


Show me That you Love me

by Cyn_xo



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apologies, Carl was wrong, Happy Ending, Hurt!Jesus, Jesus is a good guy, M/M, carl brushes paul's feelings off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 16:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16836640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyn_xo/pseuds/Cyn_xo
Summary: Carl brushes Paul's feelings off, so Paul leaves. Can Carl fix things or is the damage too harsh?





	Show me That you Love me

_“Just…Show me! Show me that you love me! That’s all I’m asking you for!”_

__

That was almost a month ago. Paul had simply asked him to give him some sign of affection. And he had them, he did..but his head was buried so far up his ass that he couldn’t think straight. He’d neglected his relationship and Paul had given up on it which, as much as it had hurt, was completely understandable to him.

Of course it didn’t help that one of his friends, who also happened to be his ex, had come into town and Carl had wanted to spend time with him. Which, Paul would have been fine with had Carl not been ignoring him. It was just one of a build up of multiple things that drove Paul to dump him. When they’d all hung out in a group one night, the three of them plus Enid and Beth, Paul had pulled him aside and mentioned that he was a bit uncomfortable with how close the other boy kept getting to him.

He had no problem with friends touching, but there was still some lingering feelings on his ex’s end that left Paul feeling vaguely jealous and simultaneously upset when Carl had seemingly just brushed his feelings under the rug as “seeing things.”

That had escalated into an argument, Paul not giving a single shit if any of their friends heard them.

_____

___“Are you fucking kidding me?”___

__

__

__

__“Paul, keep your voice down we have company-”_ _

__

__“I don’t give a shit! I’m sick of you brushing me aside. I’m fucking sick of you ignoring me, and miraculously making time for literally everything and everybody else. It takes two to make a fucking relationship work, Carl! And I’m the only one still trying!”_ _

__

__“That’s not true-”_ _

__

__“I tried to come to you privately about how I was feeling and you just told me I was “seeing things.” You didn’t try to talk to me, you didn’t try to figure it out. You just dismissed me like I don’t even matter! Just..Show me! Show me that you love me! That’s all I’m asking you for!”_ _

__

__When Carl couldn’t find the words, Paul snorted a dry laugh._ _

__

___“Of course you can’t think of a fucking thing to say. Just remember that YOU screwed this up, not me. You’re so worried about spending time with everybody else, including you’re more than friendly fucking ex then you can have him. I’m done with this bullshit. I’ll be back for my stuff in a week.”___

__

________ _

__

The younger man had watched him walk out, dumbfounded with his brain still trying to catch up with whatever had just happened. By the time he had, and tried to run after him, ignoring his friends’ stares, Paul was long gone.

He’d come back a week later for his things, as he’d promised. He didn’t even acknowledge Carl other than a passing glance when he left with his things, his friend Daryl helping him with everything. He hadn’t seen or spoken to Paul in almost two months now.

Enid and Beth were determined to get him out of his rut. He knew they understood that he’d fucked it all up, but they were still his friends and they still wanted him to cheer up. So they’d taken him to a bar. They’d had a few drinks, Carl had loosened up..and then he caught sight of the beautiful brunette on the dance floor.

Paul had his hair up in a messy bun to keep it off of his neck, though a few tundrils still fell loose, framing his face and nicely trimmed beard. He was wearing a gray tanktop that hung loose on his sides to expose the ink on both sides of his torso over his ribs. He had on snugly fitted jeans with black leather combat boots. His cheeks were flushed from being tipsy, and he was dancing with a random guy who was more attractive than he could ever hope to be.

And yet, he still found himself moving over to the man. Paul had always been like a magnet; pulling him in. He caught the man’s eye and where he expected Paul to avoid him or turn away, he actually turned and let the younger man approach him. His cheeks were flushed lightly from being lightly buzzed, but otherwise he was very alert.

“Hey..”

Paul smiled faintly, pulling the young man close to dance with him. “Hey.”

“It’s uh..It’s been a while..”

Paul simply nodded, hooking his fingers through Carl’s belt loops to pull him as close as he could. “Yeah, it has.”

Paul didn’t let him speak much after that. They danced until they got tired of it, drinks split between the two of them. It seemed Paul didn’t mind Carl hanging around him. How he chose him over that model-esque man, the younger man would never know.

_____

But come 2:30am, Carl found himself in the back of an uber going home with Paul. When they’d made it back to his place, They hung their coats up and slipped their shoes off, the bearded man disappearing into the kitchen.

Carl made himself comfortable on the all too familiar couch, accepting the leftover pizza and bottle of water Paul brought for him before he sat down himself. “So, I take it you want to talk?” The jesus look alike spoke before taking a bite of his pizza.

Carl’s stomach flipped nervously, and he nodded slightly, setting his food on the table in favor of fiddling with a loose thread on his jeans. “Yeah..I would.”

“So talk.”

“I’m..look I’m sorry. I was selfish and so stupid..I shouldn’t have dismissed your feelings so easily and I should have believed you and listened when you said you were uncomfortable. And..and I shouldn’t have neglected our relationship the way it is. I don’t know what the hell I was doing and I fucked up a really good thing. I’ve been fucking miserable these past couple of months..I just..can we..can we try again?”

The blue eyed boy looked like he was being honest; Carl had always been a terrible liar and Paul was an expert at reading him. They’d been together for three years since Carl had turned 18 and snuck into a gay bar with his girlfriends. They’d met, and Paul had been instantly enamored. Everything had gone well for the most part but for the last month or so before they’d broken up Carl had just..distanced himself. And it had broken Paul’s heart to dump him, but he felt he’d needed the time to get his shit together.

“You hurt me, Carl. But I’ve missed you too. We can try again, but you need to show me you’re committed. I need to know you aren’t going to hurt me again.” Paul set his plate on the table. He looked..cautious, like he was waiting for something..and it hurt Carl to know that he was the reason the man felt that way.

The younger male slipped the silver band off of his ring finger. It was something his mother had left for him in her passing. Paul knew from experience that he hardly ever took it off. So when he felt Carl take ahold of his hand and slipped the ring onto it, he couldn’t help but to smile.

“A promise ring. I’ll show you, I promise I will. I need this; I need you. And one day I’d like to replace this with the real thing. I love you..” Carl’s voice was shaky as he spoke. Paul took pity on him and leaned forward, pressing a warm kiss to his lips.

“I love you, too. Let’s go to bed, yeah?”

Carl smiled, visibly relieved and nodded. He wouldn’t try to sleep with Paul tonight; he wouldn’t even dream of pushing for it. He had his Paul back, and that was enough for him.


End file.
